Direction signal



Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED ASTATI-:s

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD SOUL, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

. DIRECTION SIGNAL.

Application led March 7, '1922. Serial No. 541,747.

To aZZ whom z't may comm.-

Beit known that I, EDWARD SOUL, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Direction Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric signa/ls and has articular referenceto danger or `caution slgnals adapted particularly for use in connectlon with automobiles or other road vehicles and which is designed so as to. indicate to any erson in front of or at the rear of the ve icle the direction in which said vehicle is to be turned.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a direction signal for an automobile or the like, so constructed as not only to be capable of showing a right turn, a left turn,v 4and stop but which will be capable of being set or ad'usted for one ofthe lateral turns, the indication for which will be manifest even thou h in the meantime the stop Asignal has beenV isplayed.

AA. further object of the invention is to,

provide an improved compact signal casing having the capabilit of indicating not onl the various signals a ove mentioned, at bot the front and the .reary but also including an -auxilia lamp, such as intended for a parking l" t, in the same casing and with the lamp t ereof' adapted to be lighted from ythe same batteryl or source of energy and having the same ground as the main signal lamps.

With view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the. invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein,

still for thepurpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the. accompanying drawings-in which like referencecharacters desi nate the same parts in the several views, an Iin'which Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a part of an automobile with one of my improved sig- Y ently of each other. These lamps are fitted nals mounted upon the reary mud guard.

, Fi 2 is a vertical transverse section on the vhne 2-2 of 3.' Fig'. 3is a vertica longitudinal section on theJi'ne 3-1-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 isa diagram of the wiring and sig- "nal lamps.

the foregoing and other objects in:

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, 10 indicates a casing shown as of a flattened cylindrical form, but with an upwardly directed extension 11 in its center: 60 The casing is shown supported upon a pedestal 12 fixed in any suitable' manner upon the mud guard 13 fand in which position the signal casing` may bey visible either from the front orl from the rear.

Fitted in any suitable manner within the front of the casing is a lens 14', preferably of green tint, and adjacent to itsinner surface is a stencil 15 having two horizontally ,extending darts 16 and 17 to indicate right 70 and left turnsrespectively.I The stencil is formed along its vertical center with the word Stop. Otherwise the stencil is limperforate. The lens 14 is preferably so formed as to have one surface ground to disperse the light that passes therethrough. On the rear side or end of the casing is a lens 18- similar, in natureto the lens 14,4 but of a ruby tint, and adjacent to it is a stencil 19 having darts 2Q and 21 similar to the 80 darts mentioned above and also provided with a signal word Stop along its vertical center.

Arranged vertically in the center of the casin is Aa partition22 extending all the 85 lway etween the top and the bottom of the main section of the casin 'and between the two stencils 15 and his wall is imperforate but is rovided at the center of its top portion with a notch 23 into which ex 90 tends the socket 24 of a parking lamp' P located in about the center of the casing extension 11. The socket 24 being in cont-act with the wall or partition 22 is grounded therethrough. The lamp P is arranged to glow forward through a green lens 25 and rearward through a ruby lens 26, this lamp to be psed as a parking lamp under the control ofga switch 27 -within easy reach of the driver, as upon thesteering wheel.

Because of the partition 22 the main casing is divided intc'two equalparts, and in about the centers of these parts arey two lamps R and L corresponding to right and left turns respectively whenused in depend- 105 in the opposite walls a pair of holes 29 into no which the pins 30, commonly formed on the lamp base, are adapted to project. These sockets 28 are connected by spring shanks 31 with the bottom portion of the wall 22 constituting a common ground for all three lamps. The center contact for each of these lamps is a spring 32 fixed to aplug of insulation 33, at the bottom of the casing.

Referring now ,to the diagram of Fig 4, 34 is any suitable source of energy grounded at 35 on one side and having a main line 36 on the other Side` in which is located a normally closed switch v37 but which by being opened will c ut out the entire system ofsignals when demanded in an emergency. 'lhis main lineY 36 leads to a manual switch 38 located as upon the steering wheel and movable to the right or to the left from neutral position into contact with two spaced contacts 7' and Z, which contacts are connected respectively'through lines 39 and 40 with the. lamps R and L. Said main line s continued beyond the manual switch 38 as shown at 36 to a bridge 41 located nor, mally spaced from but movable into contact with the two springs 42 connected respectively through the lines 39 and 40 with the main lamp sockets. The bridge contact is preferably attached to a brake member such as'a brake ypedal 43 and so when the brake pedal is operated the springs 42 will be bridged whereby the energy from the battery 34 `will be manifested through the branch lines 39 and 40 and thence through both lamps R and L to the ground 44, and this irrespective of whether the manual switch 38 has been actuated or not. In other words, as shown in Fig. 4, the portions of the lines 39 and 40 between the contacts 1 and Z and the connections 39 and 40 will remain idle while if the bridge 41 is moved to engage the springs 42 both lamps R and L will be lighted, causing all parts of both lenses 14 and 18 to be illuminated with the result that any person in front of the signal will observe both darts 16 and 17 as well as the .word Stop in green and any person at the rear of the signal will see a similar manifestation in ruby, ythe word Stop in either case being plainly visible and legible. Under normal running conditions the brake lever 43 will of course be free from the spring contacts. While in this condition if the manual switch 38 be moved laterally the circuit will be closed through the lamp R or Ll according to the direction in which the switch is moved or the intention of the driver to. make a right -or left turn. Assume for example that a left turn is contemplated. The driver then will move'the switch 38 to engage the cdntact Z. The energy from the battery will thus pass through the main line 36, switch 38, contact Z, and line 40 to the, lamp L. Thiscondition will obtain until the switch is moved in the opposite drection. During this time if the driver is compelled to slow 05 up or stop because of traic congestion or the like he naturally will apply his foot to the brake lever 43 with the result that both lamps will be lighted as above described, but it is to be noted that upon release of the brake lever the lamp L will continue to glow because the switch 38 still remains in y contact with the contact Z. The same results al would be obtained obviously if the switch 38 were moved to the right because of a con- 75 templated turn in such dirction.

Thus it will appear that I have produced a signal mechanism of a relatively simple mechanical construction and one that is not only neat in appearance but is of proved B0` fragmentary portions of the signal word Stop that may be visible when only one of the main lamps is burning is' not legibleand has no such significance as would tend to cause confusion. As to the parking lamp its location as described is unusually con-s venient and because of the peculiar arrangement of the partition and other structural details of the casing I am able to use the same source of energy and ground for all of the lamps and yet without disturbing the action of either of the main lamps, either forward or rearward.v s

I claim:

In a direction signal, the combination of a casing having a partition extending therethrough to form two compartments, a lamp located in each compartment, a socket in each compartment to support said lamp, a pairof spring Shanks connected to said partiton and to the individual sockets to support the lamps in spaced relation to the partition and to the bottom of the casing, and contacts upon the -bottom of said casing, said spring Shanks acting in co-operation with the contacts to maintain resiliently .the lamps in proper circuit. a

In testimony whereof I` affix my signature.

EDWARD SOUL. 

